Waitlist Policy

Carmel Mountain Preschool currently has a waitlist for most preschool age groups and schedules. When a family goes on the waitlist, they understand that Carmel Mountain Preschool may have policy, procedure, and/or tuition changes between waitlist placement and enrollment at Carmel Mountain Preschool.

Steps to Join Our Waitlist

In order to be put on Carmel Mountain Preschool’s waitlist, parents must:

Priority for enrollment goes first to siblings of currently enrolled students, then to returning families including alumni, and then to new students. When the Carmel Mountain Preschool office calls a waitlisted family to let them know a spot has become available, that family has twenty-four (24) hours to either accept or decline the spot. After that twenty-four (24) hour period has lapsed, CMP will call the next family on the waitlist, based on the priority criteria detailed above.

Optional Guaranteed Placement Fee

The only way to guarantee your student’s fall or summer enrollment start date is to pay an optional Guaranteed Placement Fee. Guaranteed Placement Fees are nonrefundable and do not go towards tuition, materials, or registration fees. Families who plan to leave Carmel Mountain Preschool for the summer (and return in the fall) or who will be away from preschool for an extended period of time may also pay a Guaranteed Placement Fee to guarantee their child’s spot upon return in summer or fall.

No Guarantee of Enrollment for Families on Waitlist

Families will be notified with enrollment confirmation five weeks prior to their desired start date. No student is guaranteed a start date unless the family has already paid the optional Guaranteed Placement Fee.

Openings for Children on Waitlist

When Carmel Mountain Preschool has an opening and there are families on the waitlist who desire the opening, we have a very specific protocol. Carmel Mountain Preschool will move down the list of children on the waitlist according to the date that the Enrollment Packet and fees were submitted. Each family will be offered the spot in sequence and will have twenty-four (24) hours to respond by calling 858.484.4877 or visiting the Carmel Mountain Preschool office to either accept or decline the opening. If a family accepts the offer, they must bring in full payment for the first week’s tuition and any other fees owed within three (3) business days to the Carmel Mountain Preschool office. The child must either start on the day that the opening is available, or the family must begin paying tuition on the date that the opening is available.

If the Carmel Mountain Preschool office calls a family for an immediate opening the family must start their child within two (2) weeks of the opening or begin paying within two (2) weeks of opening (this only applies to spots that are available immediately).

If a family wishes to decline the spot, there are three (3) choices:

the family can decline the spot and return to the waitlist

the family can pay a Guaranteed Placement Fee to guarantee a future fall or summer spot

the family can decline opening and be removed from the waitlist

Openings if No One is on the Waitlist

If an opening becomes available and there are no children on the waitlist for that desired age and schedule, Carmel Mountain Preschool has a specific policy. Carmel Mountain Preschool will send out an email to all families who have toured that have an age-appropriate preschool student. The first family to respond by calling the Carmel Mountain Preschool office at 858.484.4877 will get the spot. The family then has three (3) business days to turn in a full Registration Packet and all fees in order to enroll their child in the available spot. If that family fails to bring in their Enrollment Packet and fees within three (3) days, then Carmel Mountain Preschool will move to the next family with an age-appropriate student, and so on.

Transition from Waitlist to Enrolled

The steps a family must take to transition from the waitlist to having their child enrolled at Carmel Mountain Preschool are:

Pay the first week’s tuition and any other owed fees within three (3) business days of accepting the spot; and

Sign and return any missing or updated enrollment paperwork within three (3) business days of accepting the spot.

Distinguishing Between Summer and Fall Registration and Materials Fees

Carmel Mountain Preschool’s Registration and Materials Fees are nonrefundable and are charged annually. Fall Registration and Material Fees cover enrollment from August through July. Families that enroll a student between our August (fall) start date and June (summer) start date will pay Fall Registration and Fall Materials Fee. Families that keep their children continuously enrolled will only be responsible for Fall Registration and Fall Materials Fees. Students that start between the June (summer) start date and August (fall) start date will pay prorated Summer Registration and Summer Materials fees. They then will pay their annual Fall Registration and Fall Materials Fees as long as they are continuously enrolled.

When a family goes on the waitlist, they understand that Carmel Mountain Preschool may have policy, procedure, and/or tuition changes between waitlist placement and enrollment at Carmel Mountain Preschool.